Once they came downstairs, everyone who had already been waiting below ran out of the factory building together. Niu Dagang, who had already started the tanker and left it idling, pulled away as well.
Everyone knew there were only ten minutes left. Barring any accidents, escaping Jiangxin Town should not be a problem.
But an accident was exactly what they feared.
Rose ran downstairs, saw everyone running out of the factory building, and immediately followed. After all, the bus was parked at the factory gate.
The tanker was not moving fast, especially since the ground inside the factory was all dirt, with no concrete paving.
Luo Fan scooped up An Xiaoran beside him and jumped onto the top of the tanker's tank.
He set An Xiaoran down beside him and glanced over the survivors. Many of them were carrying gasoline.
Presumably, quite a few survivors had gone to collect gasoline while he was upstairs.
Finding ways to gather supplies whenever an opportunity arose was the rule of survival for ordinary people in this mode.
Luo Fan had felt rather helpless about not being able to fill the tanker, but now that he saw these survivors had each collected some gasoline, he felt a little reassured.
"Once we're out of the factory building, you can put all your gasoline on the bus. You'll be able to run faster without it. Don't worry, I'll haul it for you for free," Luo Fan called out to all the survivors.
The bus was empty now, but letting all the survivors board was impossible. After all, who would get on and who would not? Luo Fan understood that people resented inequality more than scarcity.
Loading the gasoline, however, would be no problem.
Of course, Luo Fan said that putting down their gasoline would let them escape faster. As for being afraid that their gasoline would be lost if they died? He would never say that aloud.
Besides, if someone put down their gasoline and then died while escaping, they could not blame anyone else.
Then the gasoline they had left on the bus would become ownerless, would it not?
His hair stood on end!
Just as Luo Fan sat on the tanker's tank with countless thoughts running through his mind, he suddenly shuddered, feeling a chill of horror.
Instinctively, Luo Fan looked up.
On the roof of the factory building beside him, a figure crouched in a bizarre posture, staring at him with eyes full of hatred.
"That's..." Luo Fan's expression changed slightly as he looked at the figure.
Luo Fan recognized her. She was the woman who had stepped forward to argue with him and demand a share of the gasoline when they discovered that there was still some in the tanker.
Had he not slit her throat and killed her? How was she still alive now?
Those eyes full of resentment stared at him like a venomous snake's gaze.
Of course, one look at the woman's posture as she crouched on the roof made it clear that she was no longer normal.
So, was there something else in this factory?
After all, neither that slug nor that Monster Tree should have been able to bring this murdered woman back to life like this, right?
Her crouching body arched slightly, poised to pounce.
But just as Luo Fan drew his short blade to prepare for battle, the woman suddenly seemed to sense something and glanced toward the rear of the escaping group.
Luo Fan followed her gaze. Rose had also run down from the second floor and was now fleeing outside at the back of the group.
The woman's attention had clearly been drawn to Rose. Then she sprang straight from the roof of the two-story building, a height equivalent to an ordinary third floor, and lunged toward Rose.
So fast. Luo Fan's heart tightened at the sight.
To be honest, even with Spirit Void Step, Luo Fan would not dare casually jump down from the height of a third floor.
Moreover, she was not jumping straight down, but diagonally toward a spot dozens of meters away. Even using Spirit Void Step from high ground, he could not jump that far.
What exactly had happened to this woman? She had become neither human nor ghost, and she had grown so powerful?
He had diligently awakened his Sequence and raised its level, but this woman? In only about half an hour, she had gone from an ordinary person to someone this strong?
Although she had become neither human nor ghost, the change in her strength was far too drastic.
No wonder Evil Cultivators had always been associated with taking shortcuts.
"Aah!!!"
Whatever Luo Fan was thinking, Rose had clearly noticed the attack too. But it was so fast that she could not react at all and could only let out a terrified scream.
Bzz-
At the critical moment, a gray Shield suddenly appeared. An Xiaoran had acted, placing the Shield directly around Rose.
With a bang, the impact sent Rose flying several meters before she landed on the ground.
However, the Shield around her had not disappeared.
At Level 10, An Xiaoran's Shield was quite tough. As long as it did not encounter a Fierce Beast that had entered the rank, it was generally not so easy to break.
What's going on? Does this thing pick off the stragglers first?
Seeing this woman who was neither human nor ghost abandon her hatred for him and attack Rose instead, Luo Fan muttered inwardly.
Still, Luo Fan was quick to react. With a monster attacking, he could hardly stand by and watch, could he? He immediately took out his Twin-Eye Bow and nocked an arrow, drawing the string.
"I'm going to kill you." The monstrous woman, neither human nor ghost, let out a resentful roar. She stretched out her long, clawlike hand and viciously slashed at Rose again.
There was a bang. The Shield had blocked the first impact, but under the second attack, it had clearly reached its limit and shattered.
Although briefly impeded, the claws continued with undiminished force and struck Rose, leaving several wounds deep enough to expose bone. Flesh tore open, and blood streamed out.
Clearly dissatisfied that she had failed to kill Rose in one strike, the monstrous woman raised her claws again, this time slashing viciously straight at Rose's throat.
If this blow landed, it would tear her throat apart.
Am I going to die? Rose watched the monstrous woman's claws, her pupils contracting as far as they could, her eyes filled with despair.
Squelch...
But at that critical moment, an arrow pierced straight through the monstrous woman's skull, killing her outright.
"I-I'm saved?"
As the monstrous woman's head was pierced, her body crumpled limply to the ground. Rose sat slumped on the ground, her body rigid, feeling as though even her thoughts had stopped.
Bzz-
Just then, an emerald-green light swirled around her. An Xiaoran had cast Healing on her.
The wounds on Rose's body writhed a few times. Although they did not heal completely, the bleeding stopped. A warm sensation enveloped her whole body, bringing her back to her senses.
"If you don't leave now, you can stay here and wait to die." Having reached the factory entrance, Luo Fan glanced at Rose, who seemed too terrified to move. He had no intention of turning back to save her and merely shouted those words to her.
Then Luo Fan jumped down from the tank with An Xiaoran in his arms, and the two quickly boarded the bus.
Taking the driver's seat, Luo Fan immediately started the bus and drove toward the edge of town.
The bus door remained open, and the survivors jogged after it with the gasoline they had collected, placing it aboard.
Coming back to her senses, Rose immediately stood up. Enduring the intense pain of her wounds, she hurried after Luo Fan's bus...
Before you continue